"F@$k he winds me up!!!" - time to get curious

Intellectual curiosity is the driving force behind scientific discoveries, medical breakthroughs, and innovative new technologies. Without it, our world would not progress and evolve as it has been.

source: Your Guide to Intellectual Curiosity

Sounds like curiosity is the driving force behind a few organisations I have been speaking with recently. In other organisations it may be safety, and in others perhaps it's security, or even entertainment.

Bill Gates famously said, “‘I don’t know’ has become ‘I don’t know yet’” and admits that much of what has propelled his career is a sense of wonder and curiosity.

One way of showing curiosity is when you are personally challenged by a team member. With so many diverse, interesting, and dynamic people it's small wonder we meet people that can, initially, rub us up the wrong way (I am absolutely one of those people that can cause a little friction).

This is the perfect time to be curious, both about the person themselves and their motivations, reasons, deeper feelings but probably more importantly about those items within yourself. The movie 12 Angry Men is a wonderful example of this as Henry Fonda's character is curious, not challenging but definitely strong, and asks the questions.

A goal I find useful is to, find the potential in your colleague.

Despite, or because, of how you are interacting / communicating right now how can you (not them) find an interesting, novel, and memorable path to a more productive relationship? Being curious is, like a cat, tied up with fun and finding interesting resolutions, or novel approaches, will bring you more fun and help make everyone awesome.

You will also avoid the, "head down and just ignore", coz no-one wants that.

Go well all, seek out those that annoy you and practice being curious.